50 Years Later, a Legendary Rally Car Stops by St George's

Bob Smith came to our school to give a unique talk about the UDT world cup rally 1974, it was the 50th anniversary of it this year and the ceremony was being held in Birmingham and on the way down he came past, to tell us about one of the only finishers, a UK car, number 23. 

First, we had a 20-minute talk about the route, and what they did, they started in London, ending in Munich. However, just doing that would barely be a rally, and so, to make it more interesting, they made them cross the Sahara twice. Almost no one got through the first crossing of the Sahara, and fewer still finished the whole rally. 

The car number 23 was one of only 7 that finished. They finished 5th but overall came 6th because of a handicap. After we had gone through the route and what happened we went outside to see the actual car. It was an old Jeep, a simple model with all the engines visible and easy to reach and fix. Overall, it was a great talk and a very interesting experience.

Written by Bella (U4)